Doctor Whooves: Shadow of the black cloud
by DrHooves
Summary: When the doctor and Ditzy go back to equestria, they find a parasitic menace...


The TARDIS materialized back in Ponyville, where it had not been since the palaver in the everfree forest. Dizy was getting homesick after all the adventures and trips to planets and people and species she had never known existed. And the doctor brought her back home, without an objection. They landed at Sugar Cube Corner, where they were greeted by ribbons, balloons, and a pony with a pink coat and a pink mane. "Hiya, Ditzy! We all missed you when you were away with the Doctor, so I threw this big party to celebrate you coming home! All our friends are here, we even have Vinyl coming over from Canterlot!"

"Well, thanks, but how did you know I was here?" Ditzy turned to the Doctor, who whistled nonchalantly.  
"Either way, thanks a lot, I-oh, what's happening?" the Doctor ran to Ditzy. Ditzy was showing nothing serious, but felt dizzy and faint, like something was literally eating away at her. "Ditzy, what's wrong?"  
"I just don't feel too good." the Doctor tapped into her central consciousness. "Everypony relax. I just need to explore for some time." The Doctor checked in the back of sugarcube corner, and saw a wastebasket. He scanned the sonic on the wastebasket, all around. What was in sugarcube corner? and how did it get here? He had just finished when he scanned the shadow of the wastebasket. The Sonic gave a startling reply: there was Vashta Nerada in this house! "Ditzy! RUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!"  
The doctor found Ditzy, now fully functional and conscious, standing with some other ponies. Ditzy said "It's a bit odd...It was like something was eating away at me-literally-but when I got out of the shadows, I felt fine. What is happening to me?" The ponies were hanging on the doctor's every word.  
The Doctor looked grim. "There's a reason for that. Their called the Vashta Nerada, and I've a history with them before. Microscopic beings which live in swarms, thousands strong. Individually, Vashta Nerada are not a threat. They are very small; the dust specks visible in bright sunlight are single Vashta Nerada or small swarms, not large enough to be a threat to most life. In large numbers, they can strip a creature to its bare bones in milliseconds, like piranhas. They are deadly, because they live in one of the most unsuspecting places: the shadows. The Vashta Nerada live in the darkness. They cast shadows when they enter the light - even stopping the reach of light from fission lamps. On their own, outside of the darkness, a Vashta Nerada swarm look like a shadow cast by nothing. They mimic the shadows of their prey to get close, which means staying in the light is the only way to escape. If somepony has an extra shadow, it is already too late. Sonic technology, however, can detect the difference between a Vashta Nerada swarm and an ordinary shadow. The best thing to do is run."  
"Parasitic creatures? But they must come from spores somewhere? Maybe we can find the source, and run, and keep in mind their only living. If we could deploy poison gas..."  
"They grow in wood, in forests. This is why timberwolves are deadly: because of the vashta nerada. think: a huge nursery! They usually live off of roadkill, and the victims of natural selection, but they are predators too, which is why they attack ponies sometimes."  
"What do we do?"  
"Leave lights on. Put flashlights in normally dark places, so they don't have a place to hide. If you see a second shadow, then run."  
"What about you?"  
"I'll be fine. I need to get something settled out, a way we can defeat this menace."The Doctor put Ditzy on a stretcher in the TARDIS. "Don't worry, Ditzy. I'll have this all settled out." The Doctor piloted the TARDIS to the Shadow proclamation. He didn't see what had followed him into the TARDIS. A small, black, shadowy thing. A small, black, shadowy thing that was definitely living. When he stepped out, he was greeted by Judoon, large, humanoid rhinoceroses, with their guns pointed at him. One of them asked the Doctor, "What is the purpose of your visit here?"  
"I wish to seek an audience with the shadow proclamation."  
"Why?"  
"To report the coordinated infestation of a level five planet by a renegade species."  
"Come with us." The Doctor stepped into a room, with several people presiding over the room. "I am the Doctor. I wish to send a report of a coordinated infestation of a level five planet. Planet name- Equestria. Main perpetrator: Vashta Nerada." There were several gasps being made by the council. The Vashta Nerada? How was this happening? There was a large echo "YOU ARE CORRECT IN THAT, DOCTOR." The Judoon secured positions. but they were completely unprepared for the shadow that was about to blast through the doors. It swooped into the mouth of several juddon, who screamed as the Vashta nerada entered their bodies. then, black started seeping through the bodies of the Judoon. The Doctor scanned with his sonic screwdriver. "They're possessed, for lack of a better word. If I could free them somehow..." suddenly the sonic started lighting up brighter. The judoon-Vashta nerada started breaking up, and they started reverting to their old selves. As for the Vashta nerada, not a trace of them remained. They were quite literally dead. "Interesting. Thank you so much!" the Doctor yelled, skipping away toward the TARDIS, leaving a dumbstruck . Stepping in the TARDIS, he saw that Ditzy was missing from the stretcher. "DITZY? WHAT HAPPENED?" Ditzy was gone. She was not in the TARDIS. She was completely missing. Then, a growling sound happened behind the Doctor. he turned around-and there was Ditzy, Ditzy the Vashta nerada. "Ditzy, i'm so sorry, so sorry. The Vashta Nerada didn't eat you-it possessed you."

In reality, Ditzy was in a private hell. The clawing, the biting, a horde of things surrounding. She was in a prison. She was not hurt by her enemy-she was the enemy. Then, she was drawn to the sound, ordering her to obey, to obey anything it wanted. A voice that was the Doctor's said "Now that is odd. Just like in the hall, Sonic waves can control the organism, command it. This is a weird thing. But if sonic waves can command this type of organism, then why not be able to destroy it? Shame my sonic can't be of any use here, as it doesn't have the frequency..." suddenly the Ditzy-Vashta nerada tackled the doctor, and the doctor stepped back. he flicked switches, being chased by the Ditzy-Vashta nerada around the TARDIS console. The TARDIS landed, and the doctor opened the door. The Doctor opened the door, and the Ditzy-Vashta nerada entity escaped. The Doctor gaped in horror at the scene unfolding before him: Ditzy wasn't the only one who was trapped inside the vashta nerada. And one of the people-or ponies-was none other than Princess Celestia. They looked like ponies, but they looked grotesque, like they had razor sharp teeth, and they were all black. The Doctor had no time to lose. He ran to Sugarcube Corner. "PINKIE! WHAT HAPPENED?"

He ran to sugarcube corner. Only Pinkie and Vinyl were there. "What happened?" Pinkie explained: "When the Vashta nerada came in, Vinyl and I fled to the secret chamber under Sugarcube Corner. it was used when ponyville was a battleground in the lunar war. Everypony else got taken over. When we came out, it was pitch empty. What about from your end?"  
"I've found a weakness. The Vashta nerada can react to sonic pulses. If we can use this to our advantage, we can set our friends free and destroy the Vashta nerada. And lucky and convenient for us, we have a DJ."  
"Hmm, sounds like the parasprites..."  
"YES! This has to be the answer! The parasprites crossbred with the Vashta nerada in the everfree forest, as both are parasitic creatures. That is why they reacted to sound. if this crossbreed has both Vashta nerada and parasprite strengths, they also have their weaknesses. if a minimal amount of sonic energy is required to telepathically control the parasprites, then this crossbreed must react to it to. if a large amount of sonic energy is used, then it can be enough to destroy the crossbreed."  
"Doctor, I would if I could, but I don't have such a thing, and my equipment is back in Canterlot."  
"We'll just have to take the trip."  
"But how? Thousands of Vashta nerada are waiting outside..." BOOM. there was a large explosion. "Stay in!" yelled the Doctor. He ran outside, and the Vashta nerada were combating another foe: the Judoon! "What the-I thought-how?" The leader that had accosted him earlier yelled: "Do whatever is necessary: we'll take care of the shadows!" The Doctor ran back inside, and he went inside the tunnel. "Listen: we can get out. Look there. The explosion loosened up a passageway. Here." The Doctor gave out headlamps from his saddlebag. The three ponies went down the passageway. "From what I can gather, we're heading towards Canterlot!" yelled the Doctor, as he ran. "Doctor!" yelled Pinkie. "I have a second shadow." The Doctor was agast. "RUN! DON'T THINK. JUST RUN! RUN!" They galloped, loosening up the shadow, but it turned into the same monstrous being. The Doctor used his sonic on the monster, and it dissipated into thin air. They stopped to catch their breath. "Hey."said Vinyl. "It's a minecart. Let's see where it goes." All three jumped in, and the doctor jumped with a bit of force, to make the minecart move. the minecart took twists and turns, making the doctor retch. The same dark creatures jumped out of the shadows, and then dissipated into thin air, when the doctor used the sonic. They landed in a cavern. "We're in the canterlot caves..." They wandered out of the minecart, and the Doctor saw a way out. It must have been the wee hours of the morning. "HURRY! We don't have much time. if the sun rises, there will be less darkness, and we need that to destroy the Vasta nerada. If we don't get there in time, then the vashta nerada will be got of our grasp...forever" The Doctor took out his mobile teleporter, and they were at the throne room. "Hurry!" yelled Vinyl. "My studio is this way." Running through the streets of Canterlot, the Doctor ran past back alleys and main streets, until he reached a building that had a sign: Vinyl Scratch: offices of DJ pon-3. Going inside the door, the Doctor said "Alright, Vinyl, can you make a speaker that can pulse out massive bass and subwoofer systems?"  
"I have just the thing., but it'll be hard to get there."  
"That's OK. I'll set up a homing beacon, like a signal fire. The army of vashta nerada will attack in seconds."  
"Are you CRAZY!?"  
The doctor said nothing programmed something on Vinyl's computer, and them, a dark cloud was attacking the city. Arriving at the door, the Doctor stepped out, and saw the mass of clouds. He yelled out "STOP! Listen, I have a solution. I have a weapon that can eradicate all of you in seconds. That's the short way of doing this. the long way is if we talk about this. Now, my solution. I have you at ransom. Let go of the ponies you possessed, and I'll let you go free."  
"NO! THESE ARE OURS! SOON, YOU WILL ALL BE OURS!"  
"That brings up a question from me; how are you able to take physical forms?"  
"WE ARE ABLE TO DO SO BY TAKING CONTROL OF THE BRAIN. IF OUR HORDES STOP CONSUMING THE HOST, WE ARE ABLE TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE TEMPORAL LOBE. BUT ENOUGH OF THIS! LET US TAKE CONTROL OF ALL OF EQUESTRIA! THERE IS NO ONE TO STOP US, DOCTOR. THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION'S LACKEYS WERE ROUTED QUICKLY."  
"Whoa, whoa, hold your horses, if you'll pardon the pun. Take one step further and we have a nice little melody from Vinyl."  
"NO MATTER, DOCTOR. PLAYING YOUR LITTLE TUNE WON'T STOP US FROM TAKING CONTROL OF THE UNIVERSE, WITH TONS UPON TONS UPON TONS OF FLESH TO FEED UPON. WE ARE TOO POWERFUL."  
"All right, play it, Vinyl-"  
"WAIT! I HAVE ONE MORE CARD TO PLAY. DOCTOR, WE CAN CHOOSE TO ABORT OUR VICTIMS, AND WE CAN KILL THEM AND FEED OFF THEIR FLESH." Out of the cloud cam the Vashta nerada Ditzy. "No." said the Doctor. "You just played your worst card. Why? Because you just made the Doctor mad. And if there is anything you don't want to do, it is to get the Doctor mad. just like every single person who has stood in my way learned the hard way, you do not want to make the Doctor mad. If you was to keep living-if you want to keep your existence, or hou hold a shred of value for it, then there is one person you do not want to make mad. and that person is ME. I swear, I could destroy you, and everything you stand for. I could wipe you from existence if I wanted. If you knew what's good for you, you never anger a god. And you just did. I can destroy you. I can find a way. I have always."  
"BAH! WHAT WOULD WE CARE?"  
"You'll care when you see our new toy. And then, you will pay for whatever you did to Ditzy."  
Vinyl came out with a large speaker. "This baby's all fired up!"  
"WHAT LITTLE TUNE WILL YOU PLAY, WORTHLESS WORM? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME WITH THAT TRINKET? WHAT IS THAT, ANYWAY?"  
"Oh, nothin special. JUST MY BASS CANNON!" she pressed the button, and a huge pulse erupted from the speaker. The Vashta nerada screamed, several figures were seen. The Doctor could see some ponies from the party, Celestia, Luna, and one figure, one that was close to his heart. Her name was Ditzy Doo.  
The Doctor saw the great burst of light, then everything going black, and then he awoke, and saw all the other ponies waking up. they weren't possessed by the Vashta nerada anymore...they were whole again. Ditzy was awake, one of the early risers from the crowd. "Ditzy!" yelled the Doctor, throwing his arms around Ditzy.  
"We made it, Ditzy, we made it, we got out alive, it's all over."


End file.
